BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Indiana University Bloomington will again offer a program overseas to introduce life at IU to incoming international students, with a new stop this year in Thailand. Program teams will return to South Korea, China and India to offer informational sessions to new students and their families.

The program, called IU2U, fosters student success by offering international students the opportunity to prepare for the academics, culture and engagement opportunities they will find at IU Bloomington. More than 30 percent of all incoming international IU Bloomington students are expected to participate in IU2U this summer.

While students attend workshops to learn about student culture, setting academic and personal goals, curricular planning and course selection, their parents are invited to attend workshops on education in the United States and helping from home. IU staff and current undergraduate students will lead sessions.

“IU2U is the launching point for the successful collegiate careers of these international IU freshmen,” said Dennis Groth, vice provost for undergraduate education at IU Bloomington. “The program also strengthens global understanding of the undergraduates, faculty and staff who lead these sessions. We are deepening our awareness and connections to our world and, in turn, are better prepared to serve all students.”

The freshmen who participated in IU2U will be invited to join the Start Strong program, where they will participate in a two-week intensive freshmen experience to help prepare them for their studies in the fall. Students who participated in the 2014 IU2U were all retained at IU. Figures for the 2015 cohort retention will be available this fall.

Workshops will take place in Seoul on June 7 and 8, Gurgaon at the IU India Gateway office on June 9 to 11, Beijing on June 12 and 13, Bangkok on June 15 and Shanghai on June 16 and 17. Alumni who live in China, South Korea and Thailand will join those IU2U sessions to share how their experiences at IU have helped shape their career path and preparedness.

IU2U is a collaboration between the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Inclusion and Diversity, the Office of International Services, the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, the Office of the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, the IU Alumni Association and the IU Foundation.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees programs and initiatives in support of outstanding academic experiences for all IU Bloomington undergraduate students. It provides advising, testing, and enrichment resources for students at all stages and leads efforts that assess, support, and improve undergraduate teaching and learning.